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Almost 100 registered nurse positions to be cut at Southlake hospital

'Significant financial challenge' leads to staffing changes at busy Newmarket facility

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 23, 2020

Foolish, risky and irresponsible.

That’s how the Ontario Nurses’ Association describes a decision by Southlake Regional Health Centre and other hospitals to cut registered nurse jobs in the middle of a pandemic.

The Newmarket hospital is experiencing the biggest reduction thus far after announcing to staff Sept. 22 the layoff of 97 registered nurses, according to a news release by the association representing more than 68,000 RNs and health-care professionals.

It amounts to more than 176,000 hours of RN direct patient care, ONA president Vicki McKenna said in an interview.

"This kind of massive reduction … it takes your breath away," she said. "I cannot fathom how Southlake Regional Health Centre CEO Arden Krystal can justify cutting front-line registered nurses during a global pandemic."

In an emailed statement, Southlake said the hospital is hopeful to avoid any involuntary frontline employment loss, and that the reduction in nursing jobs would be done through "current and potential future clinical vacancies". Southlake is planning to reduce a total of 95 RN positions.

The plan is to add 49 registered practical nurse positions, 29 patient services partner positions and three social workers.

The email said Southlake is facing a substantial deficit unrelated to COVID-19 that predates the pandemic and is doing everything it can to mitigate any negative impact to staff.

To address a "significant financial challenge", the statement said, Southlake is making a series of changes, including an updated model of care.

As well, ambulatory care programs will focus on acute services to reduce hallway health care, avoid admission and promote an earlier discharge, while moving care into the community, it said.

"In a number of programs, we will be actively hiring more frontline unionized clinical staff. The organization is also reducing 34 management and administrative/clinical positions."

It’s not yet clear what units or programs will be impacted, but McKenna fears those nurses left behind will bear the burden of an already overtaxed hospital.

On top of that, McKenna added, there is already a shortage of nurses across the province -- and at overcrowded Southlake, in particular.

"There is such a need for care at this hospital," she said. "It’s huge. Something needs to give and in this case, it’s the nurses."

Bargaining unit president Jill Moore said nurses at the hospital are working short-staffed, but one of the biggest concerns is surge capacity.

"When our patient numbers increase, as they typically do during a pandemic, we often do not have enough staff resources to provide quality patient care, let alone trying to serve a population that is growing by leaps and bounds."

"No time is a good time to do this, let’s be honest about that, but Southlake has had a problem for a number of years," McKenna said, referring to "preventable problems" such as violence against nurses on the job and an ongoing court battle stemming from an incident in which a nurse and security guard were critically injured.

Rather than comply with an order to prevent an incident such as this from happening again, Southlake chose to fight the charges, McKenna said.

"They’re racking up tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. They are clearly having a problem with their operating fund. It’s not meeting the needs of care they’re trying to provide."

She called on the province to immediately step in and conduct an audit of the hospital budget.

In an email, Southlake said the hospital is partnering with Ontario Health Central Region on an independent external review by a third party. It aims to review the funding position and actions to date and gain an understanding of funding needs for the future.

Further cuts to nursing staff were announced earlier this month at Lakeridge Health and Toronto Rehab and McKenna said they may not be the last.

"I’m worried. I’m hearing rumblings across the province. It’s budget time. I can only hope the government takes a closer look.

"These cuts will devastate the Newmarket community," she added. "I would like to know what the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott thinks about these disastrous frontline RN cuts as they are happening right within her riding of Newmarket-Aurora."

In an email to YorkRegion.com, ministry spokesperson Miriam Mohamadi said Southlake received a funding increase from the province of more than $5 million this year to expand frontline services.

"Hospitals are in charge of their own operations and operational decision-making. That said, when making planning decisions, we expect all hospitals to minimize impacts on frontline care," she said.

"The government will continue to work with Southlake Regional Health Centre to understand their systems needs as we continue to battle COVID-19."